April 2015
Molecular machines, an already written future
In a world in which chemists assemble devices and machines billion times smaller than the usual ones, it is possible to develop systems similar to those created by nature within cells. The intricate arrangement of cellular organelles and enzymatic systems, muscle contraction, intracellular transport and ATP synthesis are examples of biological motors. For chemists this is a real challenge; to design active nanostructures that can operate as molecular machines, to increase our understanding of biological nanomotors and to construct a new generation of devices capable, for